By Roberto Morejón
Valued by many as a complement to the state economy and overestimated by others, MSMEs, micro, small and medium entities, whose number has increased in Cuba, are called to play a notable role.
These non-state actors contribute to the Gross Domestic Product and provide employment, but the support of the Cuban economy lies in the state sphere, in which they are supported and with which they are linked.
Constitutionally, Antillean society does not reject the mixed economy, it prescribes various forms of ownership and non-state entities contribute to the sustainability of production and services.
In the Caribbean nation, non-state forms of management are expected to contribute 13.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, although the adverse financial circumstances that the Caribbean country is going through place these structures in difficulties.
As MSMEs emerged inserted in a crisis, marked by the pandemic, the tightening of the US blockade and the inclusion of the archipelago on a list of those that according to Washington sponsor terrorism, their potential results remain to be seen in their entire range.
For some Cubans, their actions are linked to the current inflation, although experts remember that this negative process is associated with other factors, without denying that MSMEs in general must apply corrections, avoid twists, and articulate much more with other actors.
The more than 10 thousand MSMEs carry out their activity mainly in gastronomy and accommodation, construction, manufacturing industry and production of food and beverages.
However, its exports are still limited, although the state MSME La Güireña, in the western province of Artemisa, made important shipments of charcoal.
These private businesses depend in most cases on State entities to market their productions abroad, but it is false that they canceled that alternative.
The government reviews all the regulations related to the import and export of MSMEs across the border, but the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment confirmed that a group of them, along with other forms of non-state management, will be able to continue sending their items.
And MSMEs contribute as an instrument to tear down walls built outside borders.
All forms of property have their role in the advancement of Cuba, as long as it is efficient, altruistic and honest, as part of the will to update the economic model, even in very narrow material circumstances.
